Kivunim: Maps and Directions in Tanakh

Students learn about maps and directions and apply that knowledge to a Biblical text.

Introduction

This is a general lesson on directions and can be linked to many texts. You may wish to incorporate this lesson with the Biblical text of your choice which discusses directions. Here are some options:

° Bereshit 13:12-18 (Brit Bein Habetarim)

° Devarim 3:23-29 (Moshe viewing Eretz Israel)

° Bamidbar 2:1-9, 10-17, 18-24, 25-31 (Mivneh Machaneh Yisrael)

° Any conquering of land in Sefer Yehoshua. Choose where Bnei Yisrael are camping, see where they are about to embark, and go from there.

In this case, the lesson will relate to Sefer Yehoshua 12. This chapter is often overlooked because of its limited content. This lesson will help make the chapter come alive and help in engaging the students.

Lesson objectives

Students will be able to:
1) List the areas/kings which were conquered.
2) Identify directions in modern Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, and English
3) Explain the reasons behind the names of the directions in modern and biblical Hebrew
4) Relate their knowledge about directions to the Biblical text used in this lesson.

Skills

Students will be able to:
1) Identify maps of Israel.
2) Locate certain features on a map of Israel (e.g. Negev desert, Mediteranean Sea).

Values

Students will:
Appreciate that every word in the Torah has a meaning

Resources & Equipment needed

• Tankah for each student, or Sefaria links (linked throughout the lesson)
• 2 copies of the skit
• Whiteboard and 3 different colored markers (red, blue, and green)
• Notebooks and blue, red, and green pens or markers for each student
• Index cards or placards and tape – for English and Hebrew sets of direction names
• Illustration of the board setup
• Large poster board, to cut out sun and moon shapes
• Copies of a Biblical map of Israel (such as the one here)

Procedure

Teacher Preparation

Before the lesson:

1. Copy a Biblical map of Israel that relates to your text selection. Daat Mikra series is recommended.
2. Obtain red, blue, and green whiteboard markers.
3. Write on index cards or placards ימה וקדמה צפונה ונגבה in red,צפון מזרח מערב דרום in green and North South East West in blue. Laminate to preserve for future use if desired. Attach scotch tape or “Blu-Tack” to the backs of the cards. Different colored chalk may be used instead of placards. 4. Cut out a huge sun and moon from poster board. Laminate if desired.
5. Make two copies of the skit.
6. Share copies of the Biblical map with students.

Class Opening – Trigger (2 minutes)

Choose two students to act out the skit.

Student Reading and Activity I – Review and Map Locations 1

1. Distribute maps to students and choose a location. Ask students to find it.

2. Read Yehoshua 12 (or your chosen text selection –see the note above) and note the verses where directions (e.g. verse 3) or location are mentioned.

3. Choose other locations that appear in the verses. Ask students to locate those relative to the first and to explain if it is North, South, West, or East of the first location.

Student Activity II – Directions (10 minutes):

1. Tell students to draw a small map symbol on the lower right corner of their maps and label each direction in English in blue. In their notebooks, they should draw a large map symbol.

2. Show them English direction placards, labeled: North, South, West, and East. Ask: where do they go on the diagram on the board? Call up 2 students to stick two directions on the board. Tell students to write English directions in their notebooks in blue as well.

3. What is the word for “directions” in modern Hebrew? Kivunim-כיוונים. Ask if anyone knows how to say the four directions in Hebrew. If they do, call them up to the board and have them stick on modern Hebrew placards: צפון, דרום, מזרח, מערב. If they don’t know, choose students to stick placards on the board while indicating where they belong. They should write these on their map in green. The Torah has different words for מזרח, מערב and דרום. Call up a student to stick on placards of ימה קדמה נגבה in red. Students should copy directions in the same colors as you have displayed. Leave a box in each corner to draw a simple picture to illustrate the meaning of direction. See here for an illustration of the blackboard setup.

Q & A (10 minutes)

Use the following in question-answer form. Tell the students to remember all the pictures and their meanings, because they will play a game based on this information afterwards.

For example, lead a discussion such as this:
מזרח – What is the root of מזרח? (See if students are familiar with זורח or זרח. if not, tell them it means shining). What shines? Take out the large sun. Where does the sun begin shining in the morning? Stick the sun onto the eastern side of the board. Morning arrives when the sun begins to shine and peeps out over the horizon. קדם means first.
Ask the class: Why do you think East, מזרח is called קדם?
Answer: Because you first see the sun from the east; the sun appears in the east first.
Accept a variety of correct responses.
Then, tell students: let’s write 1st in the box next to east.

דרום – What word/place do you recognize in נגבה? Where is the Negev in Israel? (If the students do not know, locate it on the map). The Negev is a desert.
Ask the class: How many of you have been to Eilat? Was it hot? Is the sun stronger or weaker in a desert? Use thumbs up/thumbs down to receive answers.
Move the sun to the Negev. Tell students that here the sun is the strongest in midday. It’s so hot, that people feel like the sun has moved right into their backyard.
Explain that דרום = to live and דר=גר.
Ask students for their ideas of a visual to represent this or suggest: a house in the box next to דרום because it’s so hot, it’s as if the sun lives in this area.

מערב – Why is מערב called מערב? What word do you recognize in the word מערב?
Answer: ערב.
Ask: What does that mean?
Answer: Evening/twilight.
Ask: What color is twilight?
Answer: Grayish.
Explain that לערב is to mix. Twilight is a mixture of day and night. Therefore, where is the sun going in this direction?
Answer: down. Stick the sun in the west.
Explain that the most beautiful sunset is often over the water.
Ask: Why is מערב also called ימה?
Answer: Because the sun sets over the water in the west. Ask: Which body of water is in the west of Israel?
Answer: The Mediterranean.
Ask students for their ideas of a visual or suggest: drawing waves in the box next to מערב representing the waves of the Mediterranean, and the mixture of day and night.

צפון – There is a holiday, when we stay up really late at night with our families and guests and we hide something and the children find it, and they usually get a present for finding it. What holiday is it? Allow for excitable responses – Pesach, the seder, afikoman, etc.
Ask: What is that part of the seder called?
Answer: צפון –Tzafoon. Write Tzafoon and Tzafon – with nikud on the board. Show similarities between the words. Tzafoon is named for the action we are doing during that part of the seder.
Ask: What is it that we are doing?
Answer: Hiding the afikoman. צפון comes from the word להצפין, which means to hide.
Ask: After the sun sets in the מערב, where does it go?
Answer: Into ‘hiding’ – it rises in a different place. Discuss a place with a time zone different from yours that has sunrise when you have nighttime. Stick the sun onto the north.
Ask students for their ideas for a visual or suggest: an afikoman. Draw an afikoman in the box next to צפון because it is hidden like the sun at night.

Kivunim: Relay Race Direction Game (8-10 minutes)

If there is more time, the students can play for longer. Tell them will play more tomorrow, if they behave. Line up the class into North, South, East, and West, placing one-quarter of the class in each corner of the room. Ask a question about a direction. The first student in the row has to run in that direction and tap the hand of the student in front of that row and then return to the back row of his direction and stand like a soldier at attention. Once the first student has returned to the back of his team’s row, the whole team must shout out the name of the direction to which he has just run, which is also the answer to the question (Biblical word or modern Hebrew is OK, as long as they get it right). The team acquires a point, which is charted on the board by the teacher or by another student who doesn’t wish to play.

Sample game questions:
1. We are reminded of this direction when we look for the afikoman (צפון)
2. The sun rises here (מזרח)
3. The sun is hidden here (צפון)
4. When the sun is here, there is a mixture of day and night (מערב)
5. The Mediterranean is on this side (ימה)
6. First up see it here (מזרח קדמה)
7. Here is a mixture of day and night (מערב)
8. The Israeli desert is down here (נגבה)

BONUS QUESTIONS: 5 POINTS EACH! Ask 2 questions about the locations first charted at the beginning of the class. Answers may be in two directions, such as southeast. Students must hit two directions and his team must shout out first one direction and then the other.

Conclusion (2 minutes)

Tell students that the first team to return quickly and quietly to their seats gets an additional point, then the winning team will be announced.

Ask students:

• What new idea did you enjoy learning today?
• What does that teach us about words from the Torah?
• What natural element was the focus of each direction?
• Do you know how ancient civilizations used to tell time?